Is It Too Early...?

...to sew for Christmas? :-)

I think not!! I have a few gifts finished up (sorry no peeks until they are received and opened), and I made something for me!

Last year I decided I needed to decorate my kitchen with all things Gingerbread Man this year. So to that end I made a little wall hanging~

 Sorry for the poor lighting~ it is raining! And we need it so badly that I am not even going to try to edit the pix! ;-)

I was thinking about pulling a pan of gingerbread men out of the oven before decorating when I made this. I used the Crafter's Edge Gingerbread Person Die.  I fused heat & Bond Lite to the back of my fabric and then cut out 2 men at a time. It went really fast~ so fast in fact, that I have a few extra's to give away.  I have 3 with the fusible on the back ready to go. They would be cute on an apron, hotpad, whatever you can think of! Would you like them? Just comment below and I will draw a name from all comments to receive them. :) 

I love the Churn Dash block so much that I had to make a big one as a border. :-)

It is all quilted and ready for hanging.

I have a few more gingerbread projects up my sleeve~ I hope to finish them all before December! :-)

Thank you for visiting, until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Happy September!!

Hello friends!

August was such a busy month for us with a retreat for me,

 and then DH was ready for a camping trip.  :-)

I am glad it is September as it means a little bit of a slow down for me. I am basically a homebody and love to stay home and sew and quilt and create.  :-) It is all fun, right?

I wanted to show you two of the projects we did as a group at my August retreat. 

First we all made the Andalusian Pouch. 

This is a pattern by Sara @Sew Sweetness. It is one of the Minikins Series~ #3.

What makes it really special is that it has wire frames that hold the bag open, and when closed it kind of reminds me of a men's toiletry bag. My friends made them in all fabrics and colors and they all did such a nice job! We had orange lobsters, 30's print, Harry Potter, cats, the Mandalorian and  Maleficent all represented. LOL

One of the ladies in our group has a GO! machine and a Tumbler Die and she cut everyone a flag quilt kit.

They went together so fast with the corner trimmed off for us. :-) 

Mine is in the center with the star field in the upper left. I plan to hang it this way when quilted.

Some of the ladies left off the stars and plan to machine embroider them in at home.

I did make a few other projects, but they are secret sewing so will have to wait.

I hope you have a lovely autumn! Any plans?

Have you started Christmas sewing?  While I made a couple things at retreat, I also have a few things I want to get busy on soon...and not wait until December 23rd! LOL

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

There is a Monster in My House!

I believe it is an alien! LOL

 I used my Crafter's Edge Alien Space Die set to make this cute little reading pillow for my DGD.

She loves to read and be read stories. The last time she visited, she noticed I had a pillow behind my back when I sat down and she 'needed' one too.  I thought this cute little alien would fit perfectly since she loves pretending there are "mon-sirs" in the house. (She hasn't quite mastered the 'st' sound yet ;-) )

I made all the 'legs' the arms and the antenna 3-D using a fusible product to secure my fabric pieces together before cutting.  

I took in a little excess at the corners so they didn't poke out~

I am not a big fan of pointed corners and sewing the corners this way really helps.

I can hardly wait until my DGD's next visit to see her reaction to my monster. :-)

 

I just got home from a retreat and got so much done! Unfortunately most of the things I finished are Christmas gifts~ so no pix yet.  Christmas is in the air here and I am sewing like mad!! :-)

 

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Quilting!!

The weather cooperated, the stars aligned~ I am not sure what happened! 

BUT I was able to spend the weekend quilting up a few small tops for a friend. 

My friend (no blog) has a friend who is a Chaplain to a firefighting unit and he is a member of the Federation of Fire Chaplains.  The federation will be meeting in TX this fall and will have a silent auction fundraiser as one of their activities. So my friend decided to donate some of her tops and I donated the quilting.

I think we make a pretty good team. What do you think? :-)

   I used some pantographs to do the quilting. I really prefer pantos over rulers as I am just too left handed to properly control my machine and the ruler. LOL

Today I finished up a few pattern tests and other things on my cutting counter, so now it is time to dig into a new project! :-)

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

A Little Challenge...

Good afternoon!! I hope you are having a great day!

 While we were on our trip in June, I visited my friend Barbara (no blog).

We have known each other for many years and like to do joint projects. We share a love of embroidery, cross stitch and quilting, among other things. So it was that I used my Crafter's Edge Crossover II to cut us both little partial kits.

I had purchased mini charm packs of Kansas Troubles 'Prairie Dreams' and I used the smallest tumbler die to cut the mini charms. A set for each of us. The challenge was very simple~ make something with your tumblers. :-)

Well, Barbara got busy before I was even gone LOL and cut herself a bunch of solid tumblers to match the small ones in the kit~ she made a template from an already cut tumbler.

And she proceeded to make and hand quilt (!) this adorable mini~

Sorry, I could not rotate it properly. :-/ BUT isn't it adorable?!!!!

 

when I got home, I had a jillion and one things to do and while I had my tumblers right next to my machine, and my idea in my head, I just didn't find the time to play until today. :-)

My tumblers are sewn together. (click on pix for closer views)

I found a scarecrow coloring page and simplified it and I am going to embroider it and them attach it to the side of my tumblers. :-)

 I will start stitching tonight and hopefully you will see it finished pretty soon! 

 

BTW~ that little Tumbler Die worked great!! It comes with 5 different sizes, but the small one fit the mini charm pack perfectly.

The Crossover II is still on sale until the end of the month  ;-) ;-) 

Be back soon with a finish!! (I hope!) LOL

Happy stitchin'!!

Do You Sew Clothes?

I did. For many years I made my own clothes

 and when our kids were young, I made theirs too.

When I started quilting, I got out of making clothes, but every so often I get that call. ;-)

This time, it really was a call!

My DD needed a vendor apron for a craft fair.

I loosely followed the tutorial on Crafty Staci's blog~

I made it shorter for my DD and used velcro instead of a button, I switched the placement for the two pockets and a few other things. DD loved it, which was the whole idea. :-)

I also made a dress for DGD.

 This was a McCall's pattern (I can look up the number if you need it)

It was a quick sew, and I enjoyed it. A nice change from my usual sewing.

Now I am thinking about getting back into it and making myself a few tops...

maybe...

Do you sew clothes?

Until next time~

Happy stitchin', whatever you are making!!

 

Quilts & Stuff

Why does it take so long to get back into your routines after a long trip?

It seems like I have been putting away for ages! ;)

These are the quilts I delivered to the grandkiddoes on our trip.

This is 'Ripples Cubed' by Joanne @Canuck Quilter. 

The large squares are Batman fabric for my Batman loving DGS. 

 Backed with a light grey Minky.

This is 'The Taylor Quilt' from Erica @Kitchen Table Quilting

I backed it with a snuggly roses plush fabric from Hobby Lobby. 

It was a bit of a trial to get pieced, but it quilted up really nicely and washed up so soft!

Ready for snuggles, just like my oldest DGD. :) 

 

This is 'Luv Bugs' by Catherine @ Running Doe Quilts, 

but is a card for Villa Rosa Designs. ;) 

I turned it into lady bugs for my little red headed DGD. 

It has lady bug fabric in the alternate squares.

All of the quilts were fun to make and to deliver. It was way too hot for quilts on our trip, but I am sure the kids will get a lot of use out of them this winter.

 What are you doing this summer?

Any trips?

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!